Facebook Ads Agency London

The basics

What are Facebook ads?

Facebook ads are paid adverts shown to users of Meta's platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and a network of partner apps. They appear in the feed, in Stories and Reels, on Marketplace and in other placements, and are marked "Sponsored". One advertising account covers both Facebook and Instagram, so when we talk about Facebook ads we mean both.

Unlike search advertising, you do not choose keywords. You choose people. Meta knows a great deal about its users' location, age, interests and behaviour, and lets advertisers describe the audience they want to reach. You also choose an objective, such as enquiries or sales, and Meta's system then looks for the people in your audience most likely to take that action.

What does a Facebook ads agency do?

A Facebook ads agency plans and runs this advertising for a business. The work has four parts, and a weakness in any one of them wastes the budget.

Strategy

Deciding what the campaign is for. An advert designed to get likes is built differently from one designed to get bookings. We begin with the result you want and work backwards to the campaign type, the offer and the page people will land on.

Audience

Choosing who sees the advert. For a local business this starts with a radius or a set of postcodes around your premises, then narrows by age and interests. We also build custom audiences from people who already know you, such as website visitors and people who engaged with your page, and lookalike audiences of new people who resemble your customers.

Creative

The image or video and the words. On a feed that people scroll at speed, the creative decides whether anyone stops. Real photos and short videos of your own work almost always beat stock images. We write the copy, advise on what to film or photograph on your phone, and test several versions against each other.

Tracking and optimisation

Measuring what happens after the click. We install the Meta Pixel on your website and set up conversion events, so the system learns which people become customers and finds more like them. Then we review the results, stop what is not working and put more budget behind what is.

Which businesses do well with Facebook and Instagram ads?

• Restaurants, cafes and takeaways: offers, new menus and events shown to people nearby.
• Salons, barbers, aesthetics and beauty: before-and-after work is perfect for Instagram.
• Gyms, studios and personal trainers: trial offers and class launches.
• Home improvement trades: kitchens, bathrooms, loft conversions and landscaping, where photos sell the job.
• Online shops and product brands: catalogue adverts that show the products people viewed.
• Tutors, nurseries and training providers: open days and course enrolment.
• Events and venues: ticket sales and bookings by date.

They suit urgent services less well. Nobody scrolls Instagram looking for an emergency locksmith. For that kind of business Google Ads is usually the better choice, and we will tell you so.

The types of Facebook and Instagram advert we run

Lead adverts

A form opens inside Facebook or Instagram, already filled in with the person's name and contact details. They tap twice and you have an enquiry. Good for quotes, consultations and call-backs.

Click-to-WhatsApp and Messenger adverts

The advert opens a chat with your business. For many local businesses this is the most natural way to take an enquiry, and it suits owners who already answer customers on WhatsApp.

Website traffic and conversion adverts

The advert sends people to your website or a dedicated landing page, where they book, buy or fill in a form. The Meta Pixel reports each result back to the campaign.

Video and Reels adverts

Short vertical videos shown in Reels and Stories. Video is the cheapest way to reach a large local audience, and viewers can be retargeted later with an offer.

Catalogue and shopping adverts

For online shops: your products are shown automatically to people who viewed them or similar items, with the price and a link to buy.

Retargeting adverts

Adverts shown only to people who have already visited your website or interacted with your page. These people know you, so they convert at a higher rate and at a lower cost.

How much should you spend on Facebook ads?

You set the budget and can change or pause it whenever you like. Meta has no meaningful minimum, but its system needs a steady flow of results to learn from. If the budget is too thin, the campaign never leaves its learning phase and results stay erratic.

In your free review we look at your goal, your area and your margins and suggest a starting budget that gives the campaign a fair chance. We would rather you ran one well-funded campaign than three starved ones.

Why your website still matters

Most people who see an advert will look you up before they act. They tap through to your profile, your website or your Google reviews. If what they find is thin or out of date, the advert's work is undone.

Because we are also web designers, we make sure the landing page matches the advert, loads fast on a phone and makes the next step obvious. A dedicated landing page costs £306.

Privacy, tracking and consent

The Meta Pixel uses cookies, so UK law requires your website to ask visitors for consent before it loads. Many small business sites skip this. We set up a proper consent banner and configure tracking to respect it. We also follow Meta's advertising policies, which restrict what can be said in certain categories such as health, finance and housing, so your adverts are approved and your account stays in good standing.

Common problems

Why Facebook ads fail, and what we do differently

Boosting posts. The Boost button optimises for likes and reactions, not for customers. We build campaigns in Ads Manager with an objective that matches your goal.

Audiences that are too broad or too narrow. Advertising to all of London wastes money on people who will never travel to you. Advertising to a few thousand people exhausts them within days. We size the audience to your area and budget.

One advert, left running. People tire of seeing the same image. Results fall and costs rise. We rotate fresh creative and watch how often each person has seen the advert.

No offer. "We are a salon in Hackney" gives nobody a reason to act today. A specific offer, a deadline or a striking result does.

No follow-up. A lead that is not answered within the hour is often lost. We help you set up instant replies and notifications so enquiries are handled quickly.

No tracking. Without the Pixel and conversion events, Meta cannot learn who your customers are, and you cannot tell which advert worked.

Local advertising

Facebook and Instagram ads for local London businesses

The great strength of Meta advertising for a local business is precision of place. We can show your advert only to people within a mile or two of your premises, or only in the postcodes you deliver to, and only at the hours you are open. A takeaway in East Ham has no use for viewers in Ealing, and does not have to pay for them.

London adds its own complications. Many people who are in an area during the day do not live there, and Meta lets us choose between people who live in a location and people who are simply passing through. A lunch offer near Canary Wharf should reach office workers. A cleaning service in Walthamstow should reach residents. Getting that one setting right often halves the cost of an enquiry.

Facebook ads agency London: summary

Website Designer 1 manages Facebook and Instagram advertising for London businesses for a fixed £360 a month. We set the strategy, build the audiences, write and test the adverts, install tracking and report every month on what your budget achieved. Your ad account stays yours and your budget goes straight to Meta.

Ask for a free ads review or call 07481 606235.